It is no longer just a matter of how many number of links point to a site. There are a number of cases of sites in which 50 good quality links outrank sites among hundreds of links. It is not quantity; it's the quality of the links that build up rankings in the search engine results page.

Editorial column links are more 'usual' from a search engine's viewpoint and, hence, more precious because the article has, two or three targeted links points to your site's pages.

Just like quality link bait, which is distinctive, innovative and valuable content, quality hosted content on esteemed sites will also naturally build up its own back links - the final justification and the desired outcome of inserting quality content. Finally, since these links are seen on pages optimized with your keywords, search engines will think them enormously pertinent to the subject at hand.